Hello. Greeting fellow Nebraskan! Sorry to hear about your father. Covid stole too many good souls…. I feel fortunate to still have both of mine, but wonder about life without them when the time comes. Yes, the NE winters can take a toll on these systems. Ever since I started winterizing my system, I’ve had no problems. I recommend winterizing to help save a bunch of work in the spring. Best of luck!

riveredgeman you bet! This video tends to get a lot of hits after the winter season. Go figure... hope it goes well for you.

Nope. You referring to old plastic technology.

I am doing a bunch of repairs on mine. And wishing that I had galvanized pipes because the PVC got so brittle in the sun. Do you think I could go from PVC underground to galvanized up to the backflow preventer?

That’s exactly what I wish I had! I’d remove it in the winter and cap the pipes. There’s always the risk of a leak or crack come spring time. Even when I drain the system months prior to a freeze. Thanks for the tip!

Fast Fix Seen good prices for Hydro Seal Canada on Amazon. CEPEX is a Spanish Company but I’ve seen a few of theirs on EBay. The valves are PVC or CPVC. Also, supposedly, they’re rebuildable and adjustable. You can get replacement parts for them if needed? Hope this helps.

It does. Much appreciated!

REdUDEMAN yep, good advice!

@@FastFixKZfaq Thanks guys! Found mine cracked this spring, this'll help for next winter.

StheManroy you’re welcome! Best of luck with your repair.

Hello Leah. Sorry about the late reply. Usually, the Teflon seal is to blame for slow leaks under the black cover. It’s the semi-clear disc that sits under the black canopy. In your shoes, I’d remove that piece and make sure there’s no rough edges or bends. You’d think a new one would be good to go from the factory, but sometimes quality controls fail. Are you noticing debris in the back-flow preventer? If so, remove the canopy, and all the internal parts that seal the unit such as the Teflon disc and plunger. Turn your water on and let it blow itself out. Replace the parts and check again. Hope this helps 👍

Hello. I’d input your model number into Amazon and see what pulls up. Unsure what you mean by outside or inside.

Wow, you have copper? I’m surprised no one has stolen your pipes! Honestly, I’m not familiar with copper systems. If there are no threaded joints to unscrew, you may indeed have to cut the pipes. I’d call and ask a sprinkler professional to be honest. Sounds like there could be an expensive mistake should you do it incorrectly. Sorry, I don’t have any ideas for you. Best of luck.

Hmm, that’s odd. They’re pretty universal. This is one I bought. It’s a 3/4 inch. #1 TEST PORT/BALL VALVE 3/4 X 3/4 (TAPPED); VARIOUS MANUFACTURERS www.amazon.com/dp/B004NKTC3E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_I7xQAkkDTrFyt

Now they are $55 on Amazon unless I’m looking at the wrong ones. What do you call the vent hole so I can keep searching? Thanks for the video.

Hey there. You’re correct. This was the first year with my house and I had no experience with sprinkler systems. Learned the hard way I guess, but I winterize every time now. Thanks for the suggestions and comment 👍

Hello. The green corrosion is caused by small water leaks likely from the ball valve you want to replace. You can remove the coloration using lime/lemon juice and baking soda. There’s plenty of how-to’s regarding that online. Otherwise, follow the steps in this video to replace the ball valve. Best of luck and thanks for the question

@@FastFixKZfaq I had the plastic PVC piece that threaded into the end of the ball joint piece break off right at the edge so you can't unscrew it!! I use the Dremel to wear down the PVC to the point where it got to the threads with a drum sanding bit. I got the ball joint off and I soaked the lower part of it and acetone in order to get the PVC out of the threads.

Wd40

What do you mean by top valve?

@@FastFixKZfaq if you look at yours right by the overflow thing, and when I open it it sprays

Okay. If the overflow is spraying, that is normal after the water has been shut off for a while. You have to have the spigot open completely in order for enough water pressure to buildup and close the overflow. Sometimes it takes several seconds. If it has other issues, I’ve got a video that might help. I’ll link in a comment below this one.

Here’s the video: Backflow Preventer Repair kzfaq.info/get/bejne/b5hprLCGyJzac30.html

@@FastFixKZfaq thank you, but it’s the valve by it that sprays it’s like a crack in the pipe or something

Jamshed I honestly hadn't realized connecting air before the BP was potentially harmful. I wonder why air pressure to the BP would be potentially hazardous? Obviously the PSI would be much greater than the water pressure...maybe that's it. Either way, if you don't have a shut off valve plumbed for a test cock after the BP then you might be out of luck. Unless there's a way to get air pressure in the system at the distribution valves. But then you'd be pressurizing the system which would lead back to the BP. You could add a shut off valve after the BP in order to solve your problem, but if the system wasn't built with one, perhaps it's unnecessary to blow the system out. I'm not taking pressure to my system this season. I shut the water off in early September and hope the water evaporates. Sorry I don't have a solid answer for you. Best of luck!

Yes to blow out system without ruining valve/seal in the breaker valve . Cut pvc after the 4 inches below the 90 home depot /lowes sells a 1 inch slip slip with a 1/2 inch threaded female glue that in . On internet or hardware store buy a brass 1/2 inch male to a 1/4 female also get the1/4 inch threaded male brass cap to close off when not blowing out system. Teflon tape clockwise the 1/2 brass male end and screw into your 1/2 in. Pvc female now get a quick connect to 1/4 in. Threaded male and connect air compressor and shut main water supply off and close brass valve oclosest to your fitting you just made ti stop the air from pressurising backflow preventer. Hope this helped

Appreciate it! Hangover gone and fix is proving the test of time 👍

he is not a legit plumber just a homer owners saving money he dont need to be by the book lol

@@JoshuaAmaral Considering he's saving hundreds of dollars to avoid a plumber coming out he could spare $75 to make sure he's not sucking fertilizer and animal waste back into his drinking water / the neighbors drinking water. The book was literally written to prevent fly by night homeowners from fucking up themselves or others.

Lunker012 it’s Ben replaced before every year see the air port in the test cock valve he dose it him self and leaves the valves closed cracking them

It's how they build houses MODERN houses...the are all close to walls.

I been doin sprinklers for over 15 years every single backflow is against the house like that no matter who is doin systems or what plumber is puttin them in even some ppl be havein inside ones tapped off the meter some dont want that big ugly backflow seen outside i repair these 24/7 each ball valve does not DOES NOT need to be super tight ...

Hello. Others have said this and I looked up local codes. I couldn’t find anything that says an inspection is required. Can you cite something specific regarding this? Perhaps it depends on where you live?

Agreed! That price seems to be long gone…

Insulate the piping through winter and it won't crack again.

Wow, I had no idea these existed! Thanks for the advice. If my ball valve fails again, I'll definitely go this route. Good stuff.

RiceFlavoredGum that's what I'm gonna do. Put a union on both sides cause I've had to take the dang thing apart so many times

That probably depends on the rules and regulations of your water district.

Agreed! I try and buy local when possible, which is often. But sometimes Amazon is there in a pinch. 👍

"The valves that turn on and off your irrigation system are not sufficient to stop backflow. The purpose of the backflow preventer is to protect you when the valve breaks or leaks, which all valves will do eventually." I got some useful information about your question here: www.irrigationtutorials.com/irrigation-backflow-preventers/

Thanks for the response. What I meant from irrigation valves were the solenoid valves in the irrigation system. I took a look at the link you provided and it has addressed my question at the last paragraph of "why do you need the backflow preventer". However, there is a flaw in the presented argument. It says that solenoid valves are directional. This means simply that they don't work in the opposite direction. But, surprisingly, the article says that it works in the opposite direction to prove its point! With its own logic, solenoid valves are on-way and should prevent the backflow.

MrAmoslemi I was surprised there was so much argument about backflow preventers to begin with. Truthfully, I never really considered their necessity looking at it from your point of view. Well done!

Also depends if the solenoid is a normally open or normally closed valve. In a loss of electricity to control the solenoid, a normally open valve would present a cross contamination risk with the presented argument of the PVB being redundant device. Regardless of the argument for the sake of it, it’s the law and the water purveyors right to protect their water. Wouldn’t be a good idea to remove it saying the solenoid prevents it and try explaining it to the purveyor. Sounds like fines and jail time. Lol

@@FastFixKZfaq Link doesn't work

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